Improvement in earth-augers



E. & H. COX.

EARTH AUGER.

. Patented Feb.6,1877.

unllll WITNESSES N PEIEHS. FHOTO-LITHOGHAPHER wASHiNGTN. D CA UNITED EDWARD COX AND HENRY COX, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN EARTH-AUGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,989, dated February 6, 1877; application filed October 7, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD COX and HENRY COX, of East St. Louis, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Self-Elevating Earthshaft, at the upper end of which a yoke is attached that is made to revolve by bevel-gearing. The upper yoke is provided with ahorizontal shaft, having at its outer end a pinion that travels upon a series of cogs formed at the edge of the circular Qpening in which the yoke is suspended. An endless chain, carrying buckets, passes over a pulley on the horizontal shaft and around a pulley in the yoke that supports the auger. The whole is supported by a derrick, which is provided with a windlass for raising and lowering the appa` ratus.

The object of the invention is to provide a l machine that will bore the earth and at the same time remove the dbris.

In the drawing, A is a derrick, having the legs B, the windlass C, and the pulley a. D D, Ste., are vertical guide-posts arranged at the corners of a square, and attached to the derrick at their upper ends and braced by the hooked brace-rods b. 5E is a platform that is supported by a yoke, F, and guided by the' posts D, and is provided with'a circular opening in the center, around which, upon the upper surface of the platform, teeth care formed. The yoke F is supported and raised and lowered by a rope, d, that runs from the windlass over the pulley a. Gis a cross-bar attached to the sides of the yoke, in which the vertical shaft e'is journaled. A bevel-wheel, f, is placed upon this shaft, and receives motion from a pinion, g, placed on a shaft, h, that runs across the yoke F, in which it' is journaled, and is provided at each end with a crank, t'.

To the lower end of the shaft e a yoke, H, is attached, in which a shaft, I, is journaled that carries a pinion, J, which meshes into the teeth con the platform E. A. pulley, j, is placed on this shaft, between the sides of the yoke. The yoke H is of such width as to nearly fill circular opening in the platform E, and is attached to a vertical shaft, K, having at its lower end a yoke, k, for supporting the earth-augerL. This auger consists of a section of a hollow cylinder having a bottom, which is pitched downward toward the cutting-edge L, and is provided with a central p oint, m, and a cutting-lip, n. The bottom is filled in, as shown at o, in Fig. 2, and pitches from all directions toward the center. M is a roller that is pivoted in the yoke la, and N is an endless chain that carries the bucketsp and passes around the pulleys 7' and M. A chute, O, is attached to the lower part of the yoke H, for receiving the earth as it is raised by the buckets p.

The operation of our machine is as follows: The derrick is well centered over the place when the earth is to be removed, and the boring apparatus -is lowered, by means of the windlass, until the point of the auger enters the earth; the machine is revolved by means of the cranks and gearing at the top of the machine, and the auger is let down by the wipdlass as rapidly as the earth can be cut and removed. As the auger revolves the pinion meshing into the teeth in the uppersurface of the platform revolves and carries the pulley, and consequently the endless chain carrying the buckets. The buckets are thus made to remove the earth from the auger as rapidly as it is cut away and loosened, and deliver it to the chute, which is of sufficient length to carry it outside of the excavation. vWhen the machine has been operated until the platform nearly or quite reaches the surface of the earth the auger is withdrawn and a section of shaft and chain added, and the operation proceeded with as before.

With this auger the earth is cut away and removed at one operation, thus obviating the necessity of frequently removing the auger and shoveling out the earth. p

Having thus described our invention, we claim Vas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a derrick, of a. endless bucket-chain, arranged as and for the box-auger attached to a. rotary yoke therein, purpose specified. and an endless chain of buckets, yconstructed y and arranged substantially as shown and de- EDWARD COX. scribed. HENRY 00X.

2. A hollow, inclined atthe bottom, and Witnesses: provided with chute O, cutting-edge Z, point WILLIAM BEMENT, m, and cutting-lip n, in combination with an DARIUS D. ANTHONY. 

